Page 27 - Impact of implant retained overdenture treatment and speech, oromyofunction, social participation and quality of life.

extra observer perspective in the evaluation of prosthodontic treatment would be a key innovation in this type of research 59,60. The use of an multi-informant approach is a frequently used method in behavioral science 61. It is important from a clinical view to stress that the suggestion about using multiple observers does not conflict with a patient centered approach. The extra information, gained from the extra observer, may give more insight in a patients’ situation perceived both by the patient and the external observer. In some cases this insight may help patients to better understand and accept their situation.
Contemporary research on the impact of dental implants on quality of life and social participation paid only marginal attention to the role of personality in the experiencing of quality of life and social relationships and adaptation after surgery.
The literature overview in table 1 and the review of Meira et al. (2021) reveals that there are serious lacks in the research on overdenture treatment more specifically regarding the impact of overdenture wearing on speech, oromyofunctional behavior and social participation 43. The available literature focusses mostly on fixed denture treatment or conventional dentures and fails to provide an objective assessment by professional speech language pathologists nor includes spectral analysis for an objective evaluation of speech sounds. Also longitudinal research on this topic is not available at the moment. The latter is important because clinicians are tempted to believe speech issues will resolve over time. In most cases patients adept well, but others get confronted with persistent complaints about their speech. In search for tools in dealing with those patients, there is a serious knowledge gap and a need for translational multidisciplinary research leading to clinical guidelines. The current PhD project is a start in exploring opportunities for a multidisciplinary approach of the overdenture patient.
Aims and Hypotheses
The main aim of this PhD study is to describe the multidisciplinary outcome of three different overdenture treatments on patients related outcomes (Specific information about the clinical outcomes of the treatments is provided in appendix).
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Introduction
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